Switched
by smiles555fofo
Summary: AU Haruhi wanted to be a lawyer and Haruka wanted to be a composer, but by unfortunate events they swapped places.  *there'll be romance so don't worry*
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** AU Haruhi wanted to be a lawyer, and Haruka wanted to be a composer, but by unfortunate events they swapped places.

* * *

><p>"Eh?"<p>

Haruka blinked and glanced back down at her parchment, then up at the building. Sure, the school was beautiful and all…but it was the wrong place.

This wasn't Saotome Academy.

She fumbled with her paper when a gust of wind blew against her back, and it managed to slip out of her fingers. "Ah! Wait!" The girl chased after it, but tripped over a crack.

"Owie…"

"Are you alright, my lady?"

Surprised, Haruka looked up to see a handsome boy offering her a hand. Metaphorical rose petals floating in the background.

He smiled. "A lovely miss such as yourself should be more careful. Are you alright?"

Haruka blushed as she accepted the help. "Y-yes."

'Oh Grandma,' she thought, 'what did I get myself into?'

* * *

><p>Haruhi blinked and she glanced back down at her parchment, then up at the building. She didn't know why those men had brought her to the airport and fly across Japan…but this wasn't the right place.<p>

This wasn't Ouran High School.

'This is bad,' Haruhi thought as she ran her fingers through her hair, ruffling it up more than it already was. 'This is really bad. Mom, what should I do?'

First things first, seek the headmaster and demand for an arrangement. There must have been a mistake with the student entries, right? That's why it didn't make sense as to why those men brought her here. Well, her father was more than ecstatic for some reason, but she didn't want to dwell on the thought any longer.

As of right now, she didn't know where the headmaster was, so she reluctantly followed the crowd of students that were making way to the central where the opening ceremony was held. There was a large stadium that stood before them. A man walked across it and to the microphone where he began the typical "Welcome, we're so psyched to have you here, yada yada yada yada" intro. When the man called for the headmaster, nothing happened. The teachers that sat to the side of the students began looking around in confusion, and the students imitated.

Suddenly, a low booming voice echoed across the area. "Anyone who doesn't know love, don't even think to speak of songs! Just leave here at once!"

Standing on a balcony of a tall tower was a man dressed like a joker, laughing manically.

Haruhi frowned at the biased statement. She didn't know much about music, but she sure knew about love (much). Or was it just plainly vice-versa?

"The beating of the heart," he announced, "is the first source of music!"

Then he jumped off, arousing screams and shouts from everyone. He swooped down like a preying eagle and, as if bouncing in mid air, came up again above the crowd. Haruhi could see the ropes that held the man.

"Yes, my friends, the headmaster is _me_, Shining Saotome! Welcome to Saotome Academy, or rather, to this shining world!"

Shining Saotome then did some wicked dance moves in the air and landed onto the stadium while whipping out of his costume. Cue in the terrible music and terrible dancing.

"Music is love! Come on, soul! _Shine_!"

Haruhi frowned again at the oddity. This was definitely not the school she was supposed to be in.

* * *

><p>"…and then I ended up here," Haruka explained sadly.<p>

The boy, who introduced himself as Suoh Tamaki, rubbed his chin in thought. "Well, my lady," he said with a small sigh, "I can see that you are in quite a predicament. Unfortunately, you are not the famous Fujioka Haruhi this school has been expecting, much to my despair for I would have loved—no, be _honored_ to have you here with us."

Haruka blushed.

"Alas, I can see that it is made to be, making amends so that you may attend to this Saotome Academy so you may fulfill your dreams to become a composer for this Ichinose Tokiya." Tamaki made a sweeping gesture and tilted his head back. Dramatic. "But…But I am sure of one thing, one certain thing, that our encounter was designed by fate. Nay, for me to hear one single word by an angel who cascaded down by the heavens to bless me so."

Haruka turned even redder, but had to add, "A-ano…I said Ichinose _Hayato_…"

Tamaki froze. Oh crud.

"O-of course you did! I meant Ichinose Hayato, not Tokiya! Ahaha…!"

* * *

><p>Haruhi didn't know why she didn't see this earlier.<p>

She had the parchment in her hands that _told her_ _everything_.

She was currently standing on the campus of Saotome Academy—wherever the hell that was—and it was a _musical_ school. Great, she just had to be in an institute that generally taught her worst class yet. And to top it all off, she could have shown the men and told them that they had made a bloody mistake! That she was not this Nanami Haruka person!

She knew better than to let her frustration reign over her judgment, to bring down others because of her own troubles, but this was getting ridiculous.

Haruhi was somewhere _far_ that required a _plane_ to get back _home_. And she _needed_ to get _home_.

And this teacher wouldn't let her do that.

"Now look at what you've done," the man said, frowning at her disapprovingly. "The bell rang and you made us late for class!"

"I told you, this is very _urgent_! I _need_ to speak to the headmaster," she said, quelling a growl.

"The headmaster is busy at the moment. I suppose you may follow me since it's most likely that you had missed your teacher's introduction."

After a twitching eyebrow and a long-suffering sigh, Haruhi followed the man. She didn't pay much to her surroundings, which were exquisite for a school, by the way, as she observed the teacher. Tall in height, auburn short hair, well-muscled build, and a strong jaw. He looked familiar too…Perhaps she had seen him somewhere?

When he took her to his classroom, the S class, Haruhi was surprised to see that there was a diversity of ages. Sixteen to eighteen. So this school was solely on music to disregard the age differences…

"Everyone, settle down," the man barked. That had gotten them to sit in their seats. "You can sit wherever is available."

Haruhi nodded and walked towards an empty seat in the back, oblivious to the many stares at her.

"Students," he began, "welcome to Saotome Academy. As you can see, you are the few percentage that managed to enter this school. Quite a privilege."

The man introduced himself as Hyuuga-sensei, and he continued on from there.

"Saotome Academy is a vocational school that is very dedicated to cultivating idols and composers who write songs for them," Hyuuga-sensei droned on, sparing everyone the sharpness of his glare. "Our facilities and environment are also quite amazing. Every homeroom teacher here is an idol and all the other teachers are very famous, first-rate poets and composers. If you distinguish yourself well, then you might be in for a major debut."

So basically it's work hard and don't fail, otherwise you'll be booted out of the competition.

Haruhi almost slumped in her seat. Yeah, she'll definitely have to patch things up.

"And one important thing." Hyuuga-sensei gave everyone the stink-eye before saying, "There absolutely cannot be any romance involved!"

Well, at least this school was that devoted to work.

By the time Hyuuga-sensei was done educating the students and it was break, the man took off somewhere before Haruhi had the chance to talk to him.

"Dammit," she groaned, banging her head against the desk.

"You seem to be worse for wear, and literally too."

She looked up. A friendly-looking guy with dark hair grinned down at her. "Rough day?"

"You have no idea," she grumbled. "And what do you mean by literally?"

"Well, it's just that hardly anyone would come to school with an over-sized sweater, slacks, and hair that looks as though you rolled out of bed. Oh, and those hideous grandpa glasses. Ew."

Haruhi, however, took it all in stride, not offended. "I wasn't given my school uniform, not to mention it was laundry day; I did, in fact, roll out of bed; and I lost my contacts."

The boy laughed. "Takamura Saito, at your service!"

"Fujioka Haruhi," she offered.

"So why'd you come to class late? And with Hyuuga-sensei? Did you lose your way?"

"No. I was trying to ask the teacher something, but he wouldn't listen to me, and since I got us both late he said to follow him."

"You don't have the S class?"

"No."

"Then what class do you have?"

She didn't have any classes here, but she didn't feel like mentioning that. Haruhi grabbed the paper that was stuffed in her pocket and read, "A class."

"Huh." Takamura sniffed, impressed. "Just one class below. I'm guessing you're pretty good."

At music? Hell no.

"Do you want me to take you to your class? I'd be glad to help."

"Actually, I don't feel motivated to move at the moment," she sighed, propping her chin on the surface. It was unlike of Haruhi to sulk, but she wasn't up to being rational as of right now. Everything was off balance, and trying to steady it would give her white hairs. "I prefer to wait till that man comes back."

"You'd be doing Hyuuga-sensei a whole lot by just returning to your class, you know," a boy with a fedora commented. He propped his hands on his waist.

"I'm surprised he didn't berate you on your dress code," she deadpanned, eyeing the hat.

He flustered. "That's not the point," he snapped. "The point is that you are supposed to be where you are supposed to be!"

"I'm guessing that it was granted that you were _supposed_ to be eaves-dropping our conversation as well as the dress code…?"

Takamura attempted to stifle his laughter, but he couldn't hold it in. "Oh hell, Fujioka!"

By this point, the boy was turning red. "Why you…"

"Now, now, no need to get upset, o'chibi-chan."

"I'm not SHORT! Dammit!"

A tall guy strolled right in, wearing an air of debonairness and confidence. Haruhi felt a prickle of annoyance by now. Why must another one interfere?

"I'm sure we can settle this civilly," he said. He regarded her coolly, though Haruhi knew that he wanted her to get out as well. "And I'm sure that you don't mind leaving, do you?"

"Oi, Jinguuji—" Takamura began, but was halted by Haruhi when she raised her hand.

"And if I do mind?" she challenged.

One thing she learned from the judge and crime channels: do not waver and submit. Wavering was bad enough, but submitting meant giving up the whole ordeal. If Haruhi wanted to be a lawyer, she had to put up a good battle. Winning was not an option, it was a goal.

The older boy arched a delicate brow. "Well, either way, you are going to get booted out of this classroom."

"It's not as if I plan on staying here for the rest of the day, you know," she said reasonably.

He shrugged indifferently. "I know, but it would make things easier if you would just leave."

"How so?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

She gave him a flat stare. "No, I really meant by how so."

"Dammit, why can't you just get the hell outta here!" the fedora boy growled, pointing at her. Takamura looked as though he was going to defend her, that until a voice cut through the clamor.

"Just what is going on?"

Haruhi craned her neck to see who it was, and was taken back that there was a crowd surrounding them. They didn't really attract this much attention, now, did they?

The students parted to form a pathway for Hyuuga-sensei to walk through. He gave each of them disapproving frowns, eliciting a flinch from the fedora boy. "I hope there's a reasonable explanation for this."

"H-Hyuuga-sensei," Takamura stammered, unable to say anything else.

"Well?"

"Well, sensei, I—" Jinguuji began, but was cut off.

"Anyone else besides Jinguuji?" the man pressed.

Silence.

"Ichinose!" he suddenly barked, and all eyes turned to a solemn boy sitting alone by the door. "What the hell happened here?"

"The boy wearing the glasses, Fujioka, started it," Ichinose answered simply, not looking up from his book.

Hyuuga-sensei snapped his eyes back on Haruhi. "Is that true?"

Haruhi paused to sift through her thoughts. The fedora boy suggested her to leave, she commented on things that had gotten him flustered, Jinguuji made him even more so, the whole thing became a debate…She may have not known he had a temper, but still…That would've mean she was the one who started it, probably.

And did Ichinose refer her as a boy? Ah, well, it doesn't matter.

"Yes, sir," she responded calmly.

He didn't seem to expect that answer. "Erm, right then."

"Fujioka, no way!" Takamura cried.

"Silence!" There was silence. "What's your name?"

"Fujioka Haruhi."

"Now, Fujioka, what's all the hub-bub about?"

"I was supposed to be in the A class, but I would not move."

Hyuuga-sensei frowned. "Then…why didn't you?"

"I was waiting for you."

"And what for?"

"So that you may _finally_ listen to what I had to say, and since you were the _first_ teacher I've met all day, I felt _obliged_ that it had to be you."

Hyuuga-sensei had to quell a flinch at the stressed words. For some reason, he felt as though he couldn't win against the kid before him. But no matter, he was the adult, the man of the room.

"You could've gone to another teacher during break."

"Since you were the first teacher I've met all day, I felt obliged that it had to be you," Haruhi repeated with a monotone.

Again, suppressing a hurtful flinch. "That's no reason."

"I'm sorry, sensei."

And again, the kid threw him off. "…It's alright."

Takamura was proud to declare that he was Fujioka's new best bud, even though Haruhi never put her input whatsoever.

* * *

><p>Suoh Tamaki was able to confront the headmaster about Haruka's problem, but there was an issue contacting Shining Saotome, the headmaster of Saotome Academy, so Haruka had to wait. That meant she was forced to go through Fujioka Haruhi's—the one who somehow swapped places with her—place.<p>

It was a bit awkward taking the classes. One, she was being stared at a lot (whether it may be the Saotome school uniform she was wearing, or the fact that she wasn't Fujioka), and two, the classes were extremely hard. Haruka was amazed that someone who came from a common-household just like her was able to attain a scholarship at a prestigious school like Ouran High School. It made Haruka feel obliged to work harder than ever, just like Fujioka.

But the classes, nevertheless, were draining.

"Grandma, what am I going to do?" Haruka sighed, leaning against a wall. "Ugh, I almost want to give up."

A moment later, a hand fell on her shoulder. Haruka gave a jump and a small yelp from the touch, and turned around to see twins smirking at her deviously. "Princess Haruka, we presume?" they said simultaneously.

Haruka blushed and looked away. She had been blushing a lot lately. "W-well, I'm not a p-princess…"

"Haha, oh, so modest," one twin chuckled, brushing away the comment. "C'mon, princess, your kingdom awaits."

"M-my kingdom?"

"Yes, yes!" the other twin chimed. "And all the king's men—"

"And all the king's people—"

"Eagerly wait for the arrival—"

"Of the one and only—"

"Beautiful princess—"

"Haruka," they ended.

Haruka blinked. How did they end up here before two grand doors? She tossed a glance over her shoulder. It seemed like a…dream.

"Are you ready, your majesty?" they said, hands on the handles.

Haruka looked at them and nodded.

The doors opened, revealing…a kingdom.

"Welcome, my princess."

* * *

><p>Haruhi ended up not going to the A class, but staying in the S class, much the dismay of the fedora boy.<p>

"It was as if Fujioka was trying to pick a fight with Kurusu!" laughed Amori Kyo, a lanky brunette with a cowlick.

"That's not true," Haruhi grumbled, glaring at her shoes. It wasn't as if she wanted to make an enemy out of fedora boy, but he was worsening her day by telling her what to do. And he wasn't a teacher.

Takamura and his friends didn't seem to mind.

Hojo Sasaki was the level-headed one out of the bunch. He blew his black bangs from his glasses and said, "Now Kyo, keep your voice down."

"But it's true, ain't it? I mean, it's about time someone put those two good-gooders in their places!"

"I was kind of surprised how there wasn't a single girl standing up for guys like Jinguuji and Kurusu," Takamura said. "You'd think that they want to make a good impression in front of them, eh?"

"What does it matter?" Haruhi sighed. "It's over, finally. And anyway, it's not as if I'll be staying in this school any longer."

The three stopped and looked at her. "What?" they said quizzically.

"There was a mishap," she explained. "For some reason, I was sent to this school when I was supposed to go to Ouran High School. Look here." She handed Hojo the parchment. "It says Nanami Haruka, but I'm Fujioka Haruhi. There's a mistake."

"So you're saying that you'll be leaving us?" If Takamura had puppy ears and eyes, he sure would be using them by now.

"It's not as if I would've done well here. I have low grades in music in my previous schools."

"B-but you seem like the studious type! Surely you could study and get better…?"

"Yeah," Amori added, slinging an arm around her neck. "I'm sure with your smarts you'd be a fine addition to the Saotome Academy! Probably even better than that Haru-what's-his-face."

"Uh, no thanks." She non-gently peeled off the arm. "I'm aiming to be a lawyer."

"A lawyer?" Amori made a face at the term. "Ick, my dad's a lawyer and he's all old and grumpy and boring. You should be a singer."

"Or a composer," Takamura offered with a smile.

"No, I really want to be a lawyer," she said, smiling faintly. "It's been a childhood dream."

The two boys traded looks. What sort of kid wanted to be a lawyer…?

"Right, well, let's get some lunch, shall we?" Hojo said. "To put our minds off of things. And look, it's our turn.'

Haruhi's eyes went big after looking at the menu.

"Uh, Fujioka?"

"Th-they have fancy tuna?"

"Um, yeah."

She looked at the card in her hands.

"A-a-and it's free?"

"…Yeah."

"No payments involved?"

"What part of free don't you get? Hell, you even said it yourself."

Maybe this place wasn't half-bad after all.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> I'm making it so that all musically-talented people have a hard time differentiating Haruhi's gender, just like Tamaki. The rest of the host club knew that Haruhi was a girl before Tamaki.


	2. Chapter 2

Upon on their way returning to class, Hyuuga-sensei stepped before the four students and requested Haruhi to follow him. Amori cut in by asking why, naturally curious, but Hojo, knowing that it was better than to not interfere, yanked the lanky brunette out of the way by his ear.

Takamura gave her a reassuring nudge, even though she didn't need it, but the thought was sweet enough. She returned it with a short smile and set out following after the teacher.

"If I may ask," Haruhi said, breaking the five minute silence, "where am I being taken to?"

"The headmaster's office." Hyuuga-sensei glanced at her with one side of his face, arching a brow. "You did say that you wanted to meet him, right?"

"Yes."

"Coincidentally, he also wanted to meet you."

A look of surprise touched her face. "That's certainly fortunate."

"It is," he agreed.

Their conversation fell short there when the man stopped before two grand doors. "Well, here we are," he announced. He grabbed the handles and pushed, revealing the room for Haruhi to see. The office was relatively clean, with large window panels behind a desk, allowing the sun to openly spill its light into the room.

Haruhi couldn't help but think of the room as gaudy, but after seeing the headmaster's previous performance at the welcoming ceremony, a gaudy office suited well with the man's gaudy personality. She winced at the bright colors that were mashed together. She, herself, preferred the more subtle, simple furnishings, thank you very much.

"Missus Fujioka."

The black chair swiveled, and Haruhi found herself facing the headmaster.

"Headmaster," she replied, bowing.

"Miss?" Hyuuga-sensei's murmur was audible.

The man propped his square chin on his hands and his arms settled for elbows on the desk. "Hai, hai, hai, Hyuuuga-sensei. Missus Fujioka-san is indeeed a laaady."

Hyuuga-sensei's eyes widened as his gaze shot down at the short girl beside him. "O-oh, I am so sor—"

"No, it's alright," she dismissed, smiling reassuringly. "Appearances don't really make much of a difference to me."

"Well," boomed Shining Saotome's deep voice, "shaaall we get started?" He gestured to the two seats before him, and Haruhi and Hyuuga-sensei complied by occupying them. "Now then, Missus Fujioka, it appears that you have a problem."

"I do, sir," she said. "If I may?"

"Of course."

She cleared her throat and leveled her gaze with his, serious. "Well, in the morning, right before I was about to go to my first day of high school, these men showed up, saying that they were to drop me off. My dad then came along and gave me my luggage, all packed and ready, as if I was going on a trip. I had no idea what was going on, so I let them have their way of dragging me to a jet and flying all across Japan.

"I soon discovered that there was something very, very wrong. Unfortunately, I belatedly realized that the paper that they had given me had the name of the person they were supposedly were to retrieve." Haruhi held up the parchment. "Nanami Haruka. And hearing how you did not confuse me of being this Nanami person and got my name right, and also knowing that my dad had packed my belongings without me knowing, I can only assume that you two were in this together, whatever you're formulating."

After her assessment, Shining Saotome leaned back in his chair, scrutinizing the girl behind his sunglasses. For ten seconds, the girl kept her gaze steadily matched with his, and that was when he barked with laughter.

"You are quite outstanding, Missus Fujioka!" the headmaster commented merrily. "Aaah, you are correct."

Hyuuga-sensei whistled. "Solved that all on her own? Wow."

"So," Haruhi said, folding her arms, "if you would explain please…?"

The man smiled amusedly. "Of course."

* * *

><p>"Would you like some more tea, Haru-chan?" Hunny-sempai asked.<p>

"Y-yes, I would," Haruka replied, smiling at the boy's sweet face.

"Okey dokey! Here ya go!" The boy carefully poured the steaming tea into the cup until it was filled. "Oh! What about cake? Would you like some cake too?"

She giggled. "Yes, please."

* * *

><p>"…And thus our great predicament! If one were to <em>knooow<em> the differences between the constellations and vowels, I am quite _suuure_ that such mistake would never, ever be repeated. _Ever_. That is why I, Shining Saotome, would become more aware of the slipups made by inattentive humans!" declared the headmaster, who was posing on top of his desk.

"So they messed up because of our _given names_?" Haruhi deadpanned, summing it up altogether.

Hyuuga-sensei rubbed his head. He was getting a migraine.

"Ah-ah," he said, wagging his finger in front of her face. "You already said that your father and I had been formulating together, so _hooow_ could we possibly mess up?"

"But that's what you said!"

"Headmaster, if I may…" Hyuuga-sensei asked.

"Go ahead," Shining Saotome allowed, nodding.

"Why was there a switch in the first place?"

"Good question." The headmaster hopped off the desk and returned to his chair. "I cannot tell."

Haruhi frowned. "What do you mean by that, sir?"

"I mean what I mean," he said simply. "I cannot tell."

'This is going to take a long time,' Haruhi inwardly sighed. "I don't know what your reasoning is behind all this, but I have to get back. Surely this can be explained to someone…?"

The headmaster held a pause, his expression thoughtful, but she couldn't tell. The sunglasses were in the way. "I will phone the headmaster of…"

"Ouran High," Haruhi supplied.

"Yes, the headmaster of Ouran High. I will call him of this matter and see what can be done."

"Aren't you going to tell him why this has happened?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No one needs to know of what we had discussed. That's for me to know and you to find out. Eventually."

"So you're just going to put up a lie just because you can't tell your little plan?"

"Correct once again, Missus Fujioka."

Haruhi frowned. "Then…what now?"

"It miiight take a whiiile to contact with the headmaster considering that area we are in, and whether his schedule's busy or not is unknown."

She remembered the long green pastures that stretched far and wide that surrounded the school, and then the farmlands when looking down in the jet. Indeed that getting phone connection might be a bit of a hassle and it was understandable that a high standard position was difficult to come by...

But before reaching here, Haruhi remembered passing by a city that was somewhat close to here. Surely there was access when there. 'However, I cannot be selfish as to demand it,' she thought as her eyes landed onto the stack of papers that was sitting on the corner of the desk. 'This man's got troubles of his own.'

In which didn't make sense _why_ he was doing this odd switch up…Perhaps he was bored…

Made sense now knowing the kind of person he was.

* * *

><p>"…and then Takashi found this <em>huge<em> crab! We brought it to the kitchens and had one of the cooks boil it for us. It was yummy," Hunny-sempai finished, smiling happily.

"Aww!" The girls tittered, cooing at the cute boy.

"It sure was a fun day, wasn't it, Takashi?" he asked, turning to the tall boy.

"Hn," Mori-sempai replied.

"Ano, Mori-sempai," Haruka said, "would you like some tea?"

He eyed the girl holding the teapot, and then regarded her with a nod. "Hm."

* * *

><p>It was as if Haruhi couldn't believe what he just said.<p>

"I'm supposed to study here…?"

Shining Saotome nodded. "That's correct, Missus Fujiokaaa."

Her response was brisk, ultimately surprising the two men. "I'm afraid I cannot accept such terms."

"And why _nooot_?" the headmaster inquired, tilting his head.

"I…In order for me to be a lawyer, I must study hard. Academics. I need to achieve high grades, and then go to a good university." She released a small sigh. "I apologize, but I simply cannot sit around, learning music of all things."

"And what's wrong with music?" Hyuuga-sensei asked.

"It's not partial to being a lawyer."

"Ah, good point. But Fujioka, I must ask, why are you so hung up on being a lawyer?"

This was the first time they saw the girl hesitate. Their curiosity bloomed. "My mother…She was a lawyer. I merely want to follow her footsteps."

Yet the reason was still hanging. Silence stretched.

This time, she gave a long-suffering sigh. "My mother died. I wanted to be something that she was, in a way to remember her by."

Hyuuga-sensei was taken back. "Oh…I apologize."

"It's fine."

Shining Saotome, on the other hand, regained his composure. He stared at her with his chin situated on his hands, the position he held before. "Missus Fujioka, as you are aware, you are stuck in a situation that would take awhile for you to get out of. However, perhaps it would be best for you to try other things."

Her eyebrows shot above the hairline. "Pardon?"

"From what I heard just now, you are driven to be a lawyer because of your deceased mother, but have you really went into depth of finding what you truly want to be?"

"What are you saying, sir?"

"I'm saaaying that you should expaaand your choices. Be open-minded. As I mentioned before, try other things. New things. Different things. Now, I am not saying that you should abandon your dream, but just think about it."

There was no way that she was going to listen to this man and give up being a lawyer. Nonetheless, he did have a good point, despite him being a weirdo. Haruhi considered this for a moment, a frown etched on her face for the contradictory thoughts that ran across her mind. Finally, she said, "Fine."

A wide grin spread across the man's face. "Excellent. Excellent. Excellent."

"But I should warn you," she said, "that I don't have any talents relating to music. In fact, in my old school, music was the lowest class I had."

"No need to worry," the headmaster dismissed airily. "Now then, there are some rules to be laid out since you are going to be a student…"

"Temporary student," Haruhi corrected. After all, it wasn't as if she was going to stay here for the rest of the year.

* * *

><p>"Eh? What are you still doing here, princess?" one of the twins asked.<p>

"Oh, I wish to speak to Tamaki-sempai, if you don't mind," Haruka said, favoring them with a kind smile.

Unbeknownst to the trio, Ayankoji slowed to a halt to listen to the conversation.

"I'm sure that his majesty would like that," the other twin said. A devious smirk overtook his lips. "Not gonna profess your love to him, aren't you?"

She blushed. "O-of course not! I hardly know him at all!"

He shrugged. "Okay, just checking."

Ayankoji clenched her fists as she slipped away.

* * *

><p>When the door was knocked, Tomochika sprang up on her feet and dashed for the door. She groped for the handle and swung the door open. "Haruuukaa…" Her voice died when standing before her was a female teacher and a plain, glasses-wearing boy.<p>

"Hello, Shibuya-san," the woman addressed to her. "How are you?"

Tomochika eyed critically at the luggage the boy was holding. "Good, good," she replied distractedly.

"That's good. I want you to meet Fujioka Haruhi who will be sharing the dorm with you."

Her eyebrows knitted together. "A little odd for a boy to be rooming with a girl, isn't it?"

The boy nodded. "I totally agree. Maybe that's why I'm a girl."

Tomochika's eyes widened, totally shocked. "What? Seriously?"

"I'll leave you two to bond." With that said, the teacher made her sneaky getaway, but Tomochika didn't pay attention. She was still flabbergasted.

The boyish girl slipped inside the room and looked around. "I'm guessing this is my bed?" she asked, pointing to the bed that was across from hers.

"What? Oh, uh, yeah." Tomochika watched as Haruhi threw her luggage on the bed and began to unpack. She frowned and mumbled, "Man, I was so sure that Haruka got into this school…"

Apparently, the other girl heard, as she looked up and said, "Nanami Haruka?"

Tomochika snapped a stare at her, surprised again. "How did you…"

"There was a…a little mishap with the names." The way Haruhi said it was laced with exasperation. "Anyway, the headmaster is currently fixing it now, so I won't stay here for long."

"What do you mean by mishap?"

"Nanami Haruka and I switched schools," she told her, and then proceeded on explaining what happened.

"Ouran, eh?" Tomochika inquired, interested. "I heard that it's a rich school."

"It is, with an amazing academic foundation," Haruhi sighed wistfully.

"Oh, well, Saotome Academy isn't so bad too. For musicians and idols, that is." She pondered about it, but then shrugged off the thought. "So how'd you manage to get accepted as a student? No offense or anything, but you don't hit me as a rich kid."

"Scholarship."

"Wow, you're that smart, huh?"

Haruhi shrugged. "I just study well. What about you and Nanami? You seem to know her well. Are you two friends from a previous school?"

She smiled. "Nah. I just met her during the testing. We just, you know, clicked."

Tomochika was met with a blank look.

"You…don't know, do you?"

Haruhi shook her head.

"You don't have friends who you can really connect to?" Tomochika said, almost _a bit too_ bewilderedly.

The boyish girl shrugged again. "I don't…I don't really have friends. I'm always studying, so I don't go out and attempt to…"

"Why study so hard?"

"Because I want to be a lawyer."

Tomochika gave her a look as though she had grown another head. "_Why_ would you want to be a lawyer? It's such a dull job!"

Haruhi sighed.


	3. Chapter 3

After talking with Tamaki, Haruka was sad to learn that there wasn't anything the headmaster of Ouran could do about her predicament at the moment. And to top it off, she didn't have a place to stay.

And that was when Tamaki had said (surprisingly without the princely showiness), "Well, perhaps you could stay at the Fujiokas'."

Haruka blinked. "Eh?"

And that was how she ended up facing an apartment.

Lo and behold a man standing before her, all womanized and donning fake boobs. The only genuine thing about him was his friendly smile, yet it was painted in red for that matter. Whatever.

"Ah! You must be Haruka-chan!" he gushed.

Haruka was a bit stunned to know that this _man_ was the _father_ of the scholarship student.

"N-nice to m-meet you," she replied, feeling rather nervous. For a transvestite, he was awfully handsome. Simultaneously, he held feminine beauty as well.

"Kyaa! Aren't you a shy little thing, aren't ya! Well, come on, let's get you settled in. You'll be staying in Haruhi's room, and don't worry about it being messy. Haruhi is always a responsible young woman, but it's always so plain! Papa tries to give her things to make it cuter, but she never wants any of it." The man gave a dramatic sigh.

"A-ano…"

"Gracious! How rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Fujioka Ryouji, but you call me Ranka, okay sweetie? Now follow me!"

Haruka helplessly watched the man march up the stairs, enthusiastically gesturing her to come along. For the rest of the night, he had been doing nothing but helping her settle in and talk about his studious daughter, Haruhi. The way he described her made her sound like a no-nonsense businesswoman, and it strengthened Haruka's imagination when Ranka told her that Haruhi wanted to be a lawyer.

Haruka couldn't help but be amazed by Haruhi's accomplishments. Though she didn't have a wealthy upbringing, Haruhi managed to get a scholarship at one of the most prestigious schools in Japan. The girl was such a hard worker…

"Ne, Haruka-chan," Ranka said while removing his earrings, "you were originally going to be a student at Saotome Academy, right?"

She nodded. "Yes."

He tapped his chin, his expression showing musing. "To become a…a dancer, was it?"

"No, a composer." She smiled. "It's my dream to write songs for people to sing them."

"Oh, so it's that kind of school? A school full of musicians?"

"No. Saotome Academy is a school for not only composers, but singers as well. It is the foundation of idols."

Ranka gave an abrupt laugh, surprising her. "Oh my! Haruhi—Haruhi is _terrible_ when it comes to music. It's funny because many people comment on how talented she is and yet she's clueless about instruments, and she has the most atrocious singing voice ever. You could see the huge irony in this!"

The way he said it would have been mistaken as crude, not to mention horrible for a father to talk badly behind his daughter's back, but Haruka listened to the humorous and light-heartedness tone in his voice and the way his eyes glinted with mirth. She smiled and chuckled along with the man.

"You seem to be proud of your daughter," she said.

"Very," he concurred.

* * *

><p>"Dang." Tomochika gave a whistle. She peered deeply into the shorter girl's face. "A bit on the plain side, but you have a cute face."<p>

Haruhi's eyebrows knitted together as she backed away from the close proximity. "Um, thanks. I think."

"So why aren't you in uniform? And what's with the ugly sweater again?"

"The headmaster said that I'll get my uniform about a week later." She frowned. "And I happen to like this sweater."

"But it's so…" Tomochika struggled for a moment. "Ugly."

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Come on, you have to lead me to the A class so I can listen to the teacher prattle on and on about music and its welfare," she drawled dryly.

The taller girl giggled. "Right. Oh, and here are your ugly glasses."

"I'm so pleased that you also find my glasses to be hideous," she said, accepting it from Tomochika and rolling her eyes again.

"It also matches your ugly hairstyle. Seriously, Haru-chan, don't you even attempt to brush your hair?"

Haruhi paused at the sudden nickname, but brushed it off with a shrug. "I do, but I just forgot to this morning. And yesterday, I just happened to sleep late, so I was in a hurry."

"Of course." Tomochika grabbed a brush. "Sit out."

"Tomo-chan." The name fell awkwardly on her lips. Haruhi wasn't used to referring people with affectionate honorifics, but the other girl had demanded to be called that. "We're going to be late if we don't go. I don't like waiting too long in line."

"Breakfast isn't going anywhere," she snorted. "Now sit."

Haruhi sighed and complied, knowing that Tomochika would just continue to argue unless she got what she wanted. "Alright, fine, but do hurry, please."

* * *

><p>Haruhi stifled a sigh when she could see from the corner of her eye Tomochika pouting. She knew that the taller girl wanted to do more with her hair, but there simply wasn't anymore time. Now, thanks to their dilly-dallying, the line had become long. If the pace doesn't quicken, they would be tardy for class. And music lessons or not, Haruhi does not like being late.<p>

After long minutes of waiting, Haruhi finally gotten her food—miso soup and rice with a side of pickled radishes. Something light yet filling for the day, just perfect. Tomochika, on the other hand, decided to go with pancakes with a heavy dose of syrup.

"I didn't know that the cafeteria served even American _breakfast_," Haruhi said, raising an eyebrow at the choice of food.

She shrugged. "They have everything here. You might wanna go all out while you're here."

Haruhi considered this. "Sounds smart."

When they were about to move to a table, a familiar voice was calling after her. "Oi! Oi, Fujioka!"

"Oh, good morning, Takamura," she greeted the friendly boy who was jogging towards her.

"Yo!" A grin spread across his face. "Well, look at you with your now perfect hair! I didn't take you to be the type who takes the time to tidy up your locks, not like Kyo when he's on a date! You know, considering how yesterday you looked as though…" He trailed off and blinked when he saw Tomochika standing next to her. "Who's this?"

"This is Tomo-chan, a new friend of mine," Haruhi introduced, her eyebrow twitching.

"Nice to meet you," Tomochika said cheerfully.

Takamura's eyes widened. "Tomo-chan?" he reiterated.

"She insisted."

He smiled anyway. "Well, come over and sit with us. We'll introduce ourselves to the lady." He winked at the taller girl, offering her a charming grin. Tomochika giggled.

* * *

><p>"Thank you again for last night, Ranka-san," Haruka said, bowing graciously.<p>

"Oh, it wasn't a problem, my dear!" Ranka chuckled. "Now, do you know your way to school, sweetie? I would hate for you to get lost on your second day."

"It won't be a problem. I got the directions right here!" she said, holding up the piece of paper with a map scribbled on.

"Um, Haruka-chan, you're holding it upside down."

"Wha—? O-oops!" She turned it right side up. "I, uh, can sometimes be clumsy, I suppose," Haruka giggled sheepishly. "Well, I'll be on my way!"

"Don't get lost!" Ranka called after the girl. "And don't talk to strangers!"

* * *

><p>"Wow! I would have never thought you guys were S class students!" Tomochika said.<p>

"Well, what would you have imagined S class kids were supposed to be like?" Amori asked, inserting a spoon into his mouth.

"Hmm." She tapped her chin, drawing up a fake thoughtful demeanor. "How about musical smarty-pants nerds who radiate utter coolness? Hmm?"

"Hey, I can be cool! No, wait—I AM cool!"

"Yes, because cool people would definitely announce that aloud, especially right in my ear," Hojo huffed, tugging Amori to sit down by his ear.

"Ow, ow! Sasaki, that hurts!" Amori whimpered.

Tomochika and Takamura shared a laugh. "So much for cool, eh?" Tomochika giggled. "Hey, what's Haru-chan up to?"

"Haru-chan?" Takamura snorted lightly.

"It's cute, and you know it."

"Well, from what I see, Haru-chan is reading a book." Takamura plucked the book from her hands. "Oh my… And it's about math."

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes it is. Now give it back, Takamura."

"Studying so that you can catch up with school?" He handed back the book. "Can't you get a tutor or something? You can wait for that."

"I don't have time to wait," Haruhi sighed, flipping through the pages. "I'm already two days behind. I don't want those days to add up."

Amori, who had recovered from the ear-tugging, leaned in and snorted, "Geez, Fujioka, I had no idea that you were such an egghead."

"Kyo," Hojo said warningly, "don't be rude. Fujioka wants to be a lawyer, so it's understandable if he studies feverishly."

"I never seen such zeal for politics and books," the other boy muttered.

"Yeah, well, that's Fujioka for ya." Takamura caught Haruhi by her neck with one arm and gave her a noogie.

"Hey!" She struggled. "Stop that, you jerk!"

Tomochika, who no one was looking at the moment, blinked and murmured, "_He_…?"

* * *

><p>The way to Ouran High was certainly peaceful. The neighborhood that Ranka and his daughter lived was filled with friendly folk, and the area was rather quiet. It reminded Haruka the old days at the farm with her grandmother, but the place was usually filled with sounds of animals mooing or clucking or meowing or barking.<p>

'Dear Grandma,' she thought, smiling to herself, 'even though I'm not at Saotome Academy, the place here is so nice! I wish you could visit. Um, I wasn't exactly informed of where I am, but I think I'm in Tokyo. Anyway, I miss you so much, but if you're worrying about me, then please don't. Ranka-san had been so kind to me, and occasionally, funny too!'

A butterfly flew by, and she giggled at how close it was to tickle her cheek.

'I don't think that I would mind the headmasters rushing. It certainly would be a pity if they were having a hard time for my sake. Oh, and Fujioka Haruhi too. I hope that Fujioka-san won't be having a difficult time taking my place. I'm sure that she's enjoying the wonderful songs the singers and composers are making, even though music is generally her worst subject.'

Haruka tripped and face-planted.

"Ow…"

"Haru-chaaan!"

"Eh? N-nani?" She shot up, looking left and right frantically.

"Haaaruuu-chaaan! Over here! Over here!"

Looking over her shoulder, she could see someone leaning out of the window of a limo, waving with vigor. Her eyes widened when she realized who he was.

"H-Hunny-sempai!" she gasped.

When the limo slowed down to a halt next to her form, Haruka sprang onto her feet and brushed off any dust on her uniform, blushing furiously from embarrassment.

"Good morning!" the third-year said cheerfully.

"G-good morning, H-Hunny-sempai," she stuttered.

"I saw you walking to school and I decided to say hi! Oh, wanna come ride with us?"

"Oh, um, well, I, uh, erm—"

"Oh goodie!"

Haruka was then pulled inside the limo, squished against Mori-sempai, Hunny-sempai, and Usa-chan.

"Ne, ne, Haru-chan. Want some cake?"

* * *

><p>"Haru-chan," Tomochika said, pulling the shorter girl into one corner of the hallway, "I need to ask you something."<p>

"What is it?" Haruhi asked curiously.

"I just want to say first is that the guys kept treating you as if _you_ were, well, a guy."

"Okay."

"And then they kept referring you as 'him' or 'he'. And then Kyo-kun asked if I was your girlfriend! And yesterday, I did confuse you to be a boy, sorry."

"No problem," she dismissed carelessly.

"No, Haru-chan, it _is_ a problem. Those boys think that YOU'RE a boy! But you're not a boy, you're a girl. And they don't know that!"

Haruhi raised an eyebrow. "Is this something that I should be concerned about?"

Tomochika looked at her with utter disbelief. "You're not just pulling my leg, are you?" she inquired skeptically.

"Tomo-chan," she sighed, "I'm guessing that you, just like everyone else here, are swayed by the concept of physical outlook. Am I correct?"

Tomochika was taken aback. "Are you saying that I'm shallow?"

"No, of course not, because it is perfectly normal for people to have the same mindset. I couldn't help but notice that you took an immediate liking to Takamura. Can you tell me why?"

"What? You mean Saito-kun? Well, it's pretty obvious! He's smoking hot!" She paused. "Oh."

"See? But, again I say, you're not alone. Everyone can be drawn to the good-looking ones, I suppose."

"You suppose? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I just don't think that's all important." Haruhi crossed her arms and looked ahead. "Appearances and labels don't really matter to me. I mean, all what matters is the inside, right?"

Tomochika blinked. "So…say that if you were to pair up either…a butt-ugly guy with a good personality or a hot guy with a bad personality, you would go for the butt-ugly guy?" she asked.

"Obviously."

She sighed tiredly. "And I'm guessing that this negligent of appearances is dragged all the way to genders?"

"Basically."

"But Haruuu-chan! While I admit that appearances don't really matter, I think that genders draw the line."

Haruhi pondered about this for a moment before saying, "I guess you're right, but from my standpoint, I don't care whether I'm recognized as a guy or a girl."

"You—you don't?" Tomochika gasped, bewildered. "But—but haven't you ever wanted to, you know, find your true love or something?"

"Meh. I think I'll find him eventually, but I'm not really into romance."

The taller girl was almost considering of fainting right on the spot. This girl, Fujioka Haruhi, was the embodiment of a celibate! Never had she imagined encountering one, a girl who needn't romance—any girl's dream to conquer—in her life!

"A-are you a—a—" Tomochika was rather hesitant on asking, but she gulped away her reluctance. "Are you a N-NEET?"

Haruhi blinked. "A what?"

"N-n-never mind!" She fell into nervous chuckles as she pushed the smaller girl into the classroom. "C'mon! Time for you to meet your new classmates!"

Without them knowing, Hijirikawa Masato was standing behind the corner, listening to every word the girls had exchanged. It wasn't as if he meant to eaves-drop, but their conversation certainly had him…engrossed. And that Haruhi sparked his interests.


	4. Chapter 4

"Still here, I see."

Haruhi suppressed a groan. She lowered her book and saw a familiar face towering over hers. What was his name again? Jinguuji?

"What do you want?" she sighed, subtly flickering her eyes left and right in hopes of finding her new friends. They were nowhere to be seen.

"Just want to talk," he said, shrugging. He pulled a chair from the desk in front of her and sat down, his arms resting on the head of the chair. "I thought you said that you weren't going to stay any longer."

"I thought so too, until the headmaster decided that I'll be better off staying in the S class," she grumbled. She raised an eyebrow. "Is that all you wanna know?"

"Well, that's what initially brought me here. I'm curious about you, in actuality."

"Do tell."

A smile wormed on his face, but Haruhi could tell that it was just a ruse. "You're not originally a student here," Jinguuji stated.

"Wow, you figured it out. Congratulations," Haruhi deadpanned, returning to her book. Before she could flip a page, the older boy pulled it away from her. "Hey," she protested, frowning.

"I'd appreciate it if you were to focus on the person who's trying to make a conversation here," he sighed, shaking his head.

"We were having a conversation?"

"We were about to, that until you decided to cast me off when you were about to return to your book."

"Yeah, about that—I'd like to have it back, please," she said, outstretching her hand.

Jinguuji smiled dryly. "But if I were to hand it back, you'll just go back reading it."

"That's what books are usually made for. Reading."

"I know that, but, like I mentioned before, I want to have a conversation with you."

Haruhi figured that this guy wasn't going to let her off so easily. She sunk into her chair and released a sigh, scowling a bit when a smirk formed on his lips. He knew that he had won. "Why would you like to carry a conversation with me?" she inquired. "From what I recall, you didn't really want to do anything with me."

"Oh, come now. Why would you say that?"

She narrowed her eyes.

"That was because, from what I saw at the time, you were bashing on my friend," he explained smoothly. "I decided to be the hero and step in to his defense."

"You mean the hypocrite with the hat?"

"Yes, him. Why a hypocrite?"

"Because for a guy who accuses me of bothering the regulations around here, he should take account of his dress code."

Jinguuji snorted. "Now who's the hypocrite?"

"Like you said before, I wasn't supposed to come here, and yet those men mistook me to be Nanami Haruka. So excuse me if you don't see me don the school uniform, but I was never given one, not to mention made an application here."

"The dress code here is rather loose. The staff won't care what you wear as long as you have something standardized on you. In fact, look at me now," he said, indicating to the clothes he was wearing. Haruhi noticed that he wore the same thing the day before: a black vest with a loose tie and a half unbuttoned shirt.

"Well," she said, "at least you kept your shirt tucked in."

He barked a laugh. "My shirt tucked in?"

She nodded. "I'll have to give you credit for that, you juvenile."

"Oh brother."

"Anyway, now that I'm suddenly curious, how'd you find out that I'm not a student here?"

"Ah, let's see… Firstly, you were quite adamant about seeing sensei and him taking you to the headmaster. Second, you looked so disappointed upon your return. And lastly, those three boys you hang around talked about your position, which pretty much gave away everything."

"Amori does have a big mouth," Haruhi agreed.

"That he does." Jinguuji placed a thoughtful expression on his face. "By the way, would this Nanami Haruka person happen to be a lovely young lady with short hair, petite figure, and a demure attitude?"

"I don't know; never met her. Why?"

"One day, at the exams, a girl wasn't allowed to go through the gates because she was late. She was late only because she was helping a little girl find her mother. I was there to witness the whole thing, so, deeply touched, I decided to be her knight in shining armor." At this, he grinned. "Unfortunately, my charms couldn't sway the post guards, but that was until they reached word to allow her in. She said that she would be applying to Saotome Academy and I was hoping to find my little lamb here."

"You're lamb?" she snorted.

"Yes, my lamb."

"Well, I'm sure that _your lamb _is somewhere here. It is, after all, a big school. You couldn't expect to find one person amongst hundreds."

"There couldn't possibly be that many people here."

"It seems that crowded to me."

The two fell into silence. Jinguuji had already dropped Haruhi's book on her lap, so the girl immediately snatched it and cracked it open. While she occupied herself with reading once again, Jinguuji stared off into the distance, his eyes clouded with thoughts.

Haruhi couldn't help but be inquisitive when she opened her mouth to ask, "Are you thinking of her?"

He blinked. "Pardon?"

"This girl. Your lamb. Are you thinking of her?"

"Yes," he admitted, plopping his chin onto his palm. Jinguuji smiled suavely. "Just wondering if she's thinking of me like how I'm thinking of her."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm sure that she is."

"Is that jealousy I hear? Don't worry, Fujioka, there's always room in my heart for you."

"Gee, thanks a bunch. And how'd you learn my name?"

"Your big-mouthed friend, of course."

"Of course."

"Oi, Ren, do you know where—GYAA! What is _he_ still doing here?"

The two looked up to find the guy with the fedora glaring and pointing at her. Haruhi suddenly had the impulse to smack her forehead and groan. When was her peace and quiet ever going to start?

"Ah, o'chibi-chan, yo," Jinguuji said, his hand lifted up in greeting.

"QUIT CALLING ME THAT!"

'That's it,' Haruhi thought, grimacing, 'I'm sneaking the heck outta here.' Before she had her chance to get down on her fours, she felt a hand fist the front of her shirt, bringing her up to be face to face with what's-his-face—Kurusu was it?

"Listen here, punk," Kurusu spat, "I don't know what gives, but if you give Hyuuga-sensei any trouble, I swear I'll—"

"Take it easy, Syo," Jinguuji said. He deftly extracted the shorter boy off of Haruhi and patted him on the head, almost patronizingly. "Let us explain, alright?"

Kurusu looked as if he was about to burst a vein at his friend's teasing, and more so when he looked at Haruhi's face and saw nonchalance, but he managed to fuel down his rage and looked at Jinguuji expectantly with folded arms. "I'm listening."

After giving a brief and easy summary of Haruhi's situation, Kurusu's expression contorted into that of heavy guilt. "Oh man, I'm so sorry! I seriously didn't know that you were forced to be here."

She gave a dismissive wave. "It's fine. You were angry and I understand. You obviously look up to Hyuuga-sensei if you're so defensive about him, right?"

Immediately, as if hit by a magic spell, Kurusu's face lit up with elation (it was probably his favorite subject). "I sure do! Hyuuga-sensei is _the_ one of the best out there!"

She raised an eyebrow. "What makes him so great?"

"He's the—Wait. You don't know who Hyuuga-sensei is?"

She shrugged. "I don't really spend time watching television or anything," she told him.

"Oh wow! Then wait till I tell you all about him!"

Jinguuji sighed, a smile caressing his lips.


	5. Chapter 5

The Host Club couldn't see how anyone relatively sane could enjoy Ichinose Hayato's songs. Sure, he had a spectacular voice, but his character, his garb, and the lyrics are pretty downright awful. He was basically a clown on stage, aiming to entertain. Ugh, the audience must get a kick out of listening to those horrendously cheesy lyrics.

While the rest of the hosts would put up with their customers sometimes bringing up Ichinose Hayato and his concerts, Tamaki takes it on a more genuine level. It wasn't a widely known fact or would it be the best if the news spread around like wild fire, but Suoh Tamaki had close relations with Hayato.

Or, more specifically, Tokiya.

Ever since Tokiya was ordered to cover his identity with a fake name and personality, Tamaki would come across trouble trying not to give away his real name. It was also pretty tough to picture quiet and brooding Tokiya to become chipper and enthusiastic Hayato—in a way, it was kind of creepy.

(The ultimate character change!)

So when he learned that Nanami Haruka was a fan of Ichinose Hayato, Tamaki became a little curious. Soon, that curiosity evolved to keen interest when she told the Host Club one day an interesting story.

It all began when Hikaru was being as obnoxious as ever.

"Feh. How can anyone stand a goof like Ichinose Hayato?" snorted Hikaru, lazily lounging around. "I mean, I give him credit for being an alright singer, but he's lame by and large."

Haruka fell silent, and then set her teacup back to the table. "But his songs are wonderful," she spoke.

The oldest of the twins quirked a brow. "Sure, I suppose. Though they are pretty cheesy, don't you think?"

She shook her head. "I think that his songs are amazing no matter what," Haruka said with a small smile. "He's the reason why I want to be a composer—my dream is to compose a song for him to sing."

"Eh? Is that so, Haru-chan?" Hunny inquired.

"Yes. You see, I had very poor health as a child, so I was sent to live with my grandmother in the country. But when I occasionally returned the city, I couldn't get used to it. It was like I was cast out into a turbulent sea of sounds." Her smile turned a bit sad.

Tamaki was already vibrating with theatrical excitement, and no one saw Kyoya face-palming.

"One day, when I was visiting, I was on the verge of fainting," she continued, "but then…a song came down from the sky. I looked up and saw a building's screen showing Hayato-sama singing, and it was his song that uplifted me. It was the first time I ever experienced…something like that. It was different from the music at my grandma's house, but it took deep hold in my heart. It was a stirring song and yet very kind as well."

Tears were on the ridges of the club president's eyes. Hikaru felt a tad awkward hearing this—he didn't really ask for her life story.

"Certainly he was like that around the time of his debut. I didn't know his name at the time, but I thought to myself that I wanted to make music like that as well. A song that he may sing one day," Haruka finished, pressing her hand to her heart, unknowingly adding more to the heartfelt atmosphere.

"…Well, that certainly was interesting, miss," Kyoya said after a moment's pause. "Thank you for sharing."

"THAT. WAS. BEAUTIFUL!" Tamaki cried, blowing at a tissue.

Yes… The Host Club couldn't see how anyone relatively sane could enjoy Ichinose Hayato's songs. Sure, he had a spectacular voice, but his character, his garb, and the lyrics are pretty downright awful. In fact, if they were to ever hear him singing, a series of "TURN IT OFF!" or twitching would occur. Especially since Haruka came to mess with their lives.

Ever since Haruka said her little touching story, Tamaki was dead-set on making an Ichinose Hayato themed event for _two whole bloody months_. It was bad enough that their customers were already loving the idea, but really? Two months?

"We'll even perform like actual singers too!" Tamaki enthused. "OH! And we shall be singing to the song created by Haruka-hime, of course!"

"Nooo!" the twins wailed. Didn't that stupid prince-wannabe forget that some people couldn't _sing_?

Haruka, not having heard the twins' agony, blushed prettily. "M-me? Compose the song?"

Unknowingly, Ayankoji was gritting her teeth as she formulated a plan.

* * *

><p>It has been a week.<p>

A week.

And yet she was still here in Saotome Academy.

"These things take tiiime, Missus Fuuujioka," drawled the headmaster.

'I think I'm going to blow a fuse,' Haruhi thought as she exited out of the office. It was already lunch and she was starving—all that pent up frustration really worked up an appetite. She amused herself as she vaguely thought about how Amori was influencing her.

'It's been a week and the boys are already rubbing off on me. I used to be a bit more patient than this.'

Making another turn around a corner, she nearly collided into a student. "Oh, sorry," she said, and walked past him. Her steps were halted when her wrist was suddenly encased by long fingers. She blinked and looked up.

A boy about a head taller than her with a reminiscent appearance to that of a Japanese aristocrat looked at her with guarded yet curious eyes. They stood like that for a minute, and he finally released her. "Hijirikawa Masato," he said.

She raised a brow. "Uh, Fujioka Haruhi."

He nodded and handed her packaged food. "Melon bread?"


	6. Chapter 6

Haruhi entertained the idea that this Hijirikawa person knew something that she didn't, and was curious as to why he invited her to eat with him on the school roof. Not that she minded, though. She liked him in an instant, appreciating his quiet nature and unimposing attitude, unlike a certain flamboyant senior.

Regardless, Haruhi was stuck wondering what was the reason for bringing her all the way up here. Not to mention that Hijirikawa and she had never spoken or crossed paths with one another before. Haruhi continued to play with her thoughts while munching on the melon-bread she was given.

"So," she decided to start, "have we met before?"

Hijirikawa shook his head. "More than likely, we haven't."

"Then…?" she trailed.

"Then why have I invited you to eat lunch with me?" he finished her sentence.

She nodded.

"I overheard your conversation with your friend, Shibuya." Hijirikawa was telling her this, looking straightly at her, and came out frank by saying, "Apparently, you're actually a girl who is mistaken as a boy."

Haruhi, who was rather taken back by concise statement, could only blink and utter the lines of "Uhhh…"

"Additionally, you appear to be an acquaintance to Jinguuji."

"Well, I wouldn't—"

"Yet, despite your female gender, you remain unsusceptible to his charisma," he continued on smoothly. "It could possibly be due to the fact that he is unaware that you are a female, so no flirtations were involved," the boy pointed out.

Jinguuji did tend to attract a lot of the female attention, as Haruhi noticed for the past week. "I'm not easily charmed, I guess," she assumed, shrugging.

Hijirikawa's face grew stern as he stroked his chin in Sherlock-fashion. "Interesting."

"What?"

"You're interesting."

"Oh." Haruhi didn't know what to say. Really. "Um, thanks?"

"You're welcome."

She looked at him carefully. "Are you sure we've never met? You're starting to seem a bit recognizable."

"Well, you were a student of class A for a little while until the headmaster decided to place you in class S."

That was it. Hijirikawa was among the sea of other faces when Haruhi was being introduced before the entire class, but he and a few other boys stood out to her more so, probably because when Tomochika led her inside, those boys nearly knocked her off her feet after hurtling straight towards the door while Hijirikawa impassively stood at the sidelines.

And then one of the boys, a quite tall one with glasses, gave her a squeezing hug as in an apology, but it was more uncomfortable than apologetic. Especially when he said that she reminded him of a pet squirrel he once had—that was awkward.

"How is it that you managed to ascend to a higher class?" Hijirikawa inquired, curiosity standing out on his usually impassive face. "Are you that talented?"

Haruhi gave a soft snort. "No. The headmaster just did it on whim, probably thinking that it might be interesting to see how I'll turn out to be considering how I am not musically inclined whatsoever."

He raised an eyebrow. "And how are you faring?"

"Poorly, horribly, terribly. Just as I predicted."

"Perhaps, then, you should be transferred from the music division and to another one. Painting or acting, for example."

Haruhi was so caught up in trying to adjust to her new surroundings that she hadn't thought about that. After all, Saotome Academy wasn't just dedicated to music, but other sorts of arts as well. It was an excellent idea—why should she stick around while lessons about music composition and instruments fly over her head?

"That's brilliant!" Haruhi got up on her feet. "Thanks, Hijirikawa," she said, smiling brightly.

Hijirikawa blinked before nodding slowly. "You're…welcome."

* * *

><p>While Haruhi and Hijirikawa were walking back to their classes before lunch was over, they came upon Amori, Hojo, and Takamura.<p>

"Yo, Fujioka!" Takamura called out, waving. "Where were you today? We were saving you a seat!"

"Sorry, I was busy," Haruhi replied. She turned to Hijirikawa and gave a curt bow. "Thanks again."

"Hn," he responded before they parted ways.

"Dude, you know him?" Amori said in a hushed tone, slinging an arm around Haruhi's neck to bring their faces close.

"Um, kinda?" She pushed him away to give each other breathing space. "He was in the A class that I was temporarily in before switching back the S class."

"No, I mean, do you know _who_ he is?"

Haruhi gave a confused frown. "Uh. No."

Hojo and Takamura exchanged looks while Amori slapped his forehead. "Dude! How can you not know who he is? That guy, Hijirikawa Masato, is the eldest son and scion of the Hijirikawa Corps! He's, like, insanely rich and important!"

"Oh, is that so?" Haruhi continued forward, walking before them.

"You sound like you don't care," Takamura commented, catching up to the girl.

"I don't. What his status is has nothing to do with me."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Haruhi's not one for touchy feely speeches. She just relates.

* * *

><p>It was the weekend, but, for Haruhi, it was two days dedicated to searching for a new class to enroll to. She asked the headmaster if she was permitted to switch out, and he agreed; he reminded her that he would have liked it if she found herself a passion that she was born to commit to, but Haruhi still doubted that her dreams of being a lawyer could be swayed at all.<p>

Originally, she planned her weekend to studying. A couple days absent of school—an _actual_ school, not this sing-a-long and dance-to-the-beat institute—made her head feel empty. Like her brain-cells were leaking out of both ears from trying to pay attention to the musical lecture the teacher was giving. No matter how much she focused, she just couldn't keep up. It was curious as to how she was ahead with her academics but music made little sense to her.

However, now that she had the time, she was going to find what other classes that she could join, something that could veritably result in being an advantage. Singing? Composing? As if she would use any of those talents in the future (she wasn't good at them anyway).

Haruhi slammed down on the alarm clock when it began ringing. She slid out of bed and headed to the bathroom to get the day started. From there, she could hear Tomochika grumble and whine, and eventually pulled herself into a sitting position while making rustling sounds.

"Geez, Haru-chan, what're you doing up so darn early?" she complained.

"It's almost ten o'clock," Haruhi pointed out through a mouthful of toothpaste froth.

"Well, it's still too early," Tomochika harrumphed.

The smaller girl gargled water and spat, and then splashed water on her face. "I'm planning on changing my current class with another subject, but I need to find out which," she explained. "I'm assuming that it might take me more than a day to come up with a decision, so I'm using today and tomorrow to go and see."

That got the other girl wide awake. "Ehh?" Tomochika's eyes widened. "But—but why?"

"You know why. Though I'm not proud of it, but I'm pretty sure that I made a fit or two about it aloud."

"I see your point…" She sighed and pouted. "But if you have your class changed, then you would be placed in a different section of the school! We would hardly see each other then."

'I think we see each other fairly enough,' Haruhi thought. "Don't worry," she reassured. "We're still roommates and share the same lunch period."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Tomochika sighed, the pout still stuck on her lips. Her face then contorted into a grin. "Say, mind if I tag along? It's always fun to do things when you're in company!"

Haruhi smiled. "Not at all, but, first, you need to get already, and then we'll down to grab something to eat."

"Right-o!" The idol-in-training jumped out of bed. She was about to barrel inside the bathroom until she got an eyeful of what her roommate was wearing. She skidded to a halt. "Just _what_ are you wearing?"

Haruhi blinked and looked down at herself. "Um, clothes?"

"You look like a boy!" Tomochika exclaimed, pointing a finger at her. "You—you're even wearing trousers! I don't get it! I mean, you were just wearing a perfectly girly pajama—how can you go around wearing something like this?" She narrowed her eyes. "Wait, are those hand-me-downs? Do you always wear hand-me-downs?"

"Yes, these are hand-me-downs; no, I don't always wear hand-me-downs," Haruhi sighed, rolling her eyes. "I do possess girly clothes, but I do not have a whole closet full of them. And the shirt isn't a hand-me-down; I got it from a sales-off selection."

Tomochika's expressing was inquisitive but looked as though she didn't quite know how to ask her question, so Haruhi continued on. "I'm not poor, but I'm definitely not rich either. My dad and I just try to make ends meet by saving money—well, more so me than him."

"I see." Tomochika didn't appear curious about why her roommate didn't mention her mother; instead, she just smiled and nodded in understanding. "You're a commoner just like me."

"I…" She blinked. She looked at the taller girl in slight disbelief. "Uh, really?"

"Ehehehe." Tomochika sheepishly rubbed her neck. "I know that the clothes I brought in looked like they were something pricey, but I'm just fashionable! I got the pieces from discount stores and matched them together; arranging clothes was a hobby back then. Sadly, I used to be bullied for that."

Haruhi raised an eyebrow at that. She didn't want to pry, but…

"I mean, it's okay now!" Tomochika quickly amended with forced cheerfulness. "The girls from my old school just assumed that I came from a rich family or I earned cash the sleazy way. Of course, there was no way I could get my hands on so much money; my mom works as a nurse, so there's no way… Especially with her and Dad being divorced…" she trailed off.

Silence hung on the air rather heavily. Tomochika kept her gaze trained on the floor while Haruhi stared at her.

"Ah, geez, looks like I said too much!" Tomochika laughed, but it sounded faked. "Look, let's just forget about this and go get breakfast, yeah?"

"My mom died when I was five," Haruhi cut in, and the other girl fell silent. "It was from an illness, I think. I never thought to ask my dad because I know that it would break his heart going back to memories about her. He didn't tell me much about my mom, so I relied on my faint memories of her—her smile and her eyes and her touch. What he did tell me was that she was a strong woman who worked hard as a lawyer."

"So that's why you want to be a lawyer?" Tomochika asked softly.

Haruhi nodded. "I wanted to be like her. Additionally, the pay is impressive, and I'm already planning to send my first paycheck to my dad so that he could quit his job as an okama bartender."

Tomochika choked at that. "Y-you're dad? An okama?"

She smiled. "Not the best occupation in the world, as you can see. He said that he's cross-dressing because he could never love another woman."

Tomochika released a giggle. "My mom always wanted to own a cake store," she sighed. "I think she could have achieved her dream if she and Dad stayed together, but things weren't going so well between them; they filed for a divorce when I was ten. It was hard, really hard. Being the brat that I was, I always complained and blamed things on Mom, yet she took it all in. I never was as appreciative as I am now until a few years ago."

"What happened?" prompted Haruhi.

"My dad wanted to take me away. Long story short, through the crazy mess that my life had always been in, I came to realize that my dad never watched me grow-up or had taken care of me like how my mom worked hard to do. From recalling all this time when I was just skipping school or shoplifting, whether to avoid my bullies or snag myself some clothes that I couldn't afford, I felt incredibly ashamed of myself. I wanted to change, so I did. Along the way, I found a passion of being an idol, and I knew that I had to do this, that I had to be a student of this school and become an idol, and then repay my mom for everything that she had done for me."

"I guess we have something in common," Haruhi said. "We both want to repay our parents."

"Yeah, but you're stronger than I am, Haru-chan," Tomochika said, grinning. "I was just an unappreciative brat."

"You just needed time to understand, that's all. By the way, are there any other commoners like us here?" Haruhi reflected on that one time when Hojo was sighing something about house-keepers and a yacht, and the other boys treated the situation as though it was a regular occurrence.

"Oh yeah. I mean, I'm pretty sure that there is some attending this school, but there are mostly those coming from moderately rich families."

"Do you know whether the boys are…?"

"You mean Saito-kun and the others? I never asked, but it seems apparent to me that they're more than well-off."

'That answers my question.' Imagine that. Her new friends were rich kids. She wondered, had they not chosen to become idols themselves and that this little transfer mishap never happened, would they ever come to know one another at Ouran High. Well, Ouran High was for students coming from the quite influential and wealthy families, and how Tomochika described the students here sounded as though they weren't as prestige.

Although, there was Hijirikawa, the eldest son and scion of the Hijirikawa family of the Hijirikawa Corps. Him being "insanely rich and important," quoted from Amori, Haruhi idly wondered if he would be a student of Ouran High. If so, would he be her classmate? She didn't know how old he was, but she assumed that he was her age. Apparently, age didn't matter what class rank the students were placed in at Saotome Academy. She had heard that Jinguuji was eighteen-years-old while few of his classmates were sixteen.

"Mrrow."

The girls jolted in surprise, which ended up with Tomochika falling on her rear and Haruhi tripping and catching herself by grabbing the desk. In the middle of the room was a small black cat with green eyes. In her stunned awareness, Haruhi could see that it was a kitten almost growing into adulthood. But why bother with that now? How did it get in here?

"D-did we leave the balcony door open last night?" Tomochika wondered uncertainly.

The girls glanced at the balcony, and there was indeed a dearth of space the glass entrance left.

"It looks that way," Haruhi said. She pushed herself upright and went towards the cat. Haruhi grabbed the cat by its scruff, walked out on the balcony, and threw it over. Tomochika gave a startled cry and leapt onto her feet.

"Uwah! What are you doing, Haru-chan!?"

"Don't worry. Cats always land on their feet."

The girl stared at her incredulously, but relented (somewhat). "Eh…if you say so… But it's still crazy to throw a cat at this height!"

* * *

><p>The cafeteria wasn't as flooded as usual. There were some students lingering here, but it was several vacant tables available, which was something that pleased the bespectacled girl. After retrieving their food, the girls found themselves a relatively quiet spot (Tomochika wanted to sit near the crowd, but Haruhi refused).<p>

"So, what do you got in mind?" Tomochika asked, digging into her bacon and eggs.

"Nothing, to be honest. The headmaster gave me a list, but it's rather long."

"Do you have the list with you? Can I see it?"

Haruhi dug into her pocket and handed the folded paper to her roommate. "Just so you know, it's hard to read."

Tomochika squinted and brought the paper close to her face. "Dang! The print is tiny!"

"I warned you."

"Well, since you're planning on changing classes, we might as well cross out singing and composing. There's dance, drama, art…" She put the list down on her lap and frowned. "Hm, I wonder how the boys are going to take the news. I mean, I don't know them very well, but they seem to like you a lot."

"I'm planning on telling them once I see them. I intended on doing it yesterday, but they were so caught up with whatever that they were doing." Haruhi shrugged.

"You think you're gonna be okay without them?"

"Of course. It's not like I'm never going to see them again." And then she added, "And it's not like we know each other that well, so we're not that good of friends."

Tomochika squawked. "Haru-chan! How can you say that?" she berated the girl. "True that it had only been a week since you met them, but keeping friendships are important!"

Haruhi sighed. "Alright, alright."

"Pinky-promise me that you'll still keep in contact with them and be the best of pals with them!" she said, holding out her pinky.

"Tomo-chan…"

"Pinky-promise!" she insisted.

The smaller girl rolled her eyes, but hooked her pinky with the other girl's anyway. "I pinky-promise," she assured monotonously.

"Good! I'll be watching you…" Tomochika narrowed her eyes and stuck out her lower lip. "Like a hawk!"

"No, that's creepy."

After discussing briefly about what possible choices there were for Haruhi, a familiar figure strolled on by.

"If it isn't Fujioka. Nice morning we're having, eh?"

Jinguuji stopped at their table. Tomochika seemed to be holding in her breath, and Haruhi made a mental note to ask her about it later. "Good morning," she greeted.

"I see you're having a breakfast date with this lovely lady over here." With that said, the older boy flashed a charming smile in Tomochika's direction, who blushed prettily in return.

"It's not a date," Haruhi clarified. She raised an eyebrow. "Anyway, is there something that you want?"

"What? I just can't walk by and see how my classmate is doing?"

"I think you'd already know since I always give you the same answer whenever you do."

Jinguuji smiled. "Always talking back," he chuckled. "Yet, no matter what I do, I can never seem to bring out your voluble self."

"I don't have one."

"You can't discourage me from trying."

"Try as you might," she sighed. "Now, if you are quite finished, you may leave."

The boy remained smiling, yet eventually did what she requested. "It just breaks my heart how you would want it that way, but, alas, it appears that I have no choice. I'll see you later, then, Fujioka." He delivered a wink to Tomochika."Bye there, miss."

When Jinguuji was out of hearing distance, Haruhi exhaled loudly. "That guy…"

"H-how do you know Jinguuji Ren?" Tomochika immediately gushed out.

Haruhi blinked. "Um, well, he's my classmate in the S class…"

"But I wouldn't think that you two would normally carry out conversations!"

"We don't! Argh, that is, at least I don't. He tries to, but he usually gets annoying." She scratched her head.

"Haru-chan, did you just call the third son of the Jinguuji Corps _annoying_?" Tomochika gasped, scandalized.

Oh great. Jinguuji had a title? Who knew.


	8. Chapter 8

It was hard to say as to how Haruhi garnered the attention of Jinguuji for his interests in her crept up to her unknowingly. But if she had to guess, she would say it was because she treated him like any other person, and Jinguuji did seem like the kind of guy who was accustomed to having everyone shower him with respect or talk behind his back in jealousy. If finding out that he came from a wealthy line would change her opinion of him, then Haruhi would might as well sprout wings and fly.

Tomochika, who let the information sink in, shook her head in disbelief. "He's obviously trying to get you to fall for him, Haru-chan," she said sternly, and Haruhi's response to that only stretched the taller girl's disbelief.

"He thinks I'm a boy." Just like how everyone else perceives, was the silent add in.

"Okay," Tomochika gave in after a moment of "What? What? Friggin' what?", pressing two fingers to her temple, "from what I know, Jinguuji Ren isn't the type of guy who would, ya know, get along with other guys. Every single boy here is either with him or against him, in fit of shameless reverence or outrageous envy."

"Maybe he just finds me interesting," Haruhi quipped with a snort.

Her roommate shot her a look for her rather unladylike chortle. The bespectacled girl was becoming more and more manly with each passing day, and Tomochika blamed Amori and Takamura for that (Hojo, on the other hand, was a good influence sort). "That doesn't make sense! I mean, if he really does think that you're a guy, then there's no way he'd hang around with you!"

"He doesn't _hang around_ with me. We're not close at all—"

"Unless you're one of his good friends, of course," Tomochika continued on as though Haruhi didn't say anything. "Still, it doesn't make sense… Unless…" Her eyes widened and her lips parted to release a quiet gasp. "Unless he's in love with you!"

"What," Haruhi deadpanned.

Tomochika's eyes gleamed in what seemed to be anticipation and realization, but what Haruhi would like to name them were hallucination and delusion. "Oh, it's just like in manga! The sauve womanizer encounters the bedraggled nerd and has fallen hard when the nerd reveals some backbone that no one ever dared show to that womanizer."

She blinked. "Bedraggled?" She blinked again. "Wait, womanizer? You mean Jinguuji?"

"Well, yeah. You must have heard about how Jinguuji Ren gets all the girls with his good looks, charm, and wealth."

"I thought romance was something forbidden here."

"Pssh, you think that's gonna stop all the ladies from throwing themselves at that Adonis?" Tomochika plopped her face in both hands, her elbows propped on top of the table. She sighed a bit dreamily. "I know I would, but I really don't want to risk getting kicked out just because that hunk winked at me."

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Okay, back to topic. How can that womanizer like me when I'm just a male in his eyes?"

"It's like this: Jinguuji is always surrounded by girls, but their adoration can get tiresome. He yearns for something different! But how can he when he's so hot and amazing? And then, suddenly, you show up, with your sass and wit!"

Sass and wit, Haruhi mouthed.

"He never had someone be like that to him before. He initially disliked you for that, but, for some reason, he just can't stop thinking about you! It makes his heart go 'doki, doki!' every time he recalls that very moment, and, what's more, he can't help but glance at your way whenever you're in the same room or hallway as him. He thinks, how can some nerdy guy make me feel this way? Then the girls start crawling all over him as usual, and he gets up and is like, I'm real sick and tired of girls! Now he bats for the other team because of you!"

'She's certainly descriptive of Jinguuji's pretend situation,' Haruhi thought.

"And then, he'll rush all over the place to find where you are, slams you against a wall, and passionately make out with you—"

"No, stop. Stop right there. Don't go any further," the other girl swiftly cut in, holding out a hand.

"It makes sense, one you realize that's what's going through his head! He's there when you're there, he's trying to make a conversation with you even though you don't want to reciprocate, _and_ he teases you! Think about it!"

"I'm pretty sure that I don't want to." Haruhi scowled and pushed back her plate. "And now I've lost my appetite."

"You're just afraid of your possible romance," Tomochika snickered. "Oh, what do you think he'll react when he finds out that you're a girl? He might through a fit, like as though you were leading him on and he'll forever carry the burden of confused love."

"Or, if we've finally decided to go for a more realistic approach, he would express mild surprise and would shrug off the false impression of my gender."

"You make everything boring, Haru-chan," the taller girl lamented.

"I'm planning on being a lawyer; I've gotta prepare myself."

As expected, Tomochika burst out laughing.

* * *

><p>Haruka didn't know what her schoolbag was doing in the school's fountain because she distinctively remembered placing it on her desk—well, Fujioka Haruhi's desk, technically. But it was there in the fountain when she looked out the window. The girl raced down the stairs and outside. She kicked off her shoes, rolled up her sleeves, and braced for the waters, never minding her stockings.<p>

The water was knee-high, and already was she thoroughly soaked because she slipped and fell. Her bag was floating in the center, but the contents had scattered on the fountain's floors. Biting back a sob, Haruka blindly searched for her belongings; it was rather difficult to because the sun's shine made the waters reflect like mirrors. She half-considered dunking her face in so that she could see exactly where her belongings were until she heard a splash.

Haruka drew back her head in shock and turned around. Standing behind her with sleeves and pant-legs rolled up were the Hitachin twins. One of them had his face scrunched up, looking at her as though she was a menace, while the other appeared annoyed and weary.

"What do you think you're doing, idiot?" growled the angry boy. "You think we like being thrown out here, getting ourselves wet without our swim trunks?"

"Now, now, Hikaru," placated his brother. "We must do what his highness told us to do; otherwise, we won't get that break."

"Yeah, yeah. He better keep his word, though—I don't wanna keep doing this stupid karaoke thing."

Haruka stood there in stunned silence as she dazedly watched the two boys stick their arms in the water. She blushed and stammered aloud, "P-please! There's no need to! I-I can search by myself!"

"No need to indeed! You look like you're about to break into hysterics," scoffed Hikaru. "But that's understandable given how all your hard work was in your schoolbag."

"E-eh? But how did you…?"

"We often see you reading and taking notes from those music books that Tamaki-sempai gave you," explained Kaoru. "We remembered how distraught you looked when you found out that there's no such composer who didn't know her musical notes, and then later stuck your nose in those books."

"Not to mention the piano lessons that our lord gives you. And that tape-recorder." Hikaru frowned. "Well, it's definitely destroyed now."

"Perhaps he'll give her a new one?"

"Without a doubt. That idiot prince…"

"So...you're helping me?" Haruka said, her eyes as wide as saucers.

"His lordship demands it," the twins said sarcastically in unison, but the girl apparently didn't hear the mockery. Her eyes shined brightly, and her lips stretched in a happy and gratifying smile.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed. "I'm ever-so grateful of your kindness!"

"Yeah, you better be thankful!" groused Hikaru. "I can feel the chill to my bones! Gyah! Why is this muck water so freaking cold?"

While the older twin continued to complain, his younger brother was staring at the girl. Kaoru caught himself before she noticed, and turned away while feeling a burn on his ears. 'She has a pretty smile,' was the private thought of Hitachin Kaoru as he helped in the search. 'And pretty eyes.'

* * *

><p>"So, what should we start with?"<p>

"There's performance arts," Haruhi said, glancing at the list. "It's on the closest floor."

"You in the slightest interested in acting?" Tomochika inquired.

"Not at all, but it couldn't hurt in seeing if I am."

In actuality, Haruhi just wanted to sign up for creative writing and literature once her eyes caught hold of the name after scanning the list. If it meant expanding her vocabulary and sense of innovation via words, then she would definitely skip visiting all the others and go straightly to this class. But she had a feeling that Tomochika would have some say in the matter; anyway, Haruhi didn't mind appeasing her roommate. And who knows? Perhaps she really would find herself an interest (not that she really believed that would happen).

Making their way down the corridor, they happened to pass by two boys who Haruhi came to recognize: Kurusu and the guy who said that she reminded of him of his pet squirrel.

"ANGELINA!" Before she knew it, Haruhi was swept off her feet in a tight embrace. She couldn't breathe.

"Oi, Natsuki! Quit it!" she heard Kurusu snap. "Fujioka's not your pet squirrel! Set him down!"

"But Syo-chan! He really does look like my Angelina! Look! Doesn't he?" With that said, the tall boy—Natsuki, as Kurusu called him—dropped Haruhi back onto her feet, grappled her by the shoulders, and spun her around (elegantly so, surprisingly) so that she was facing Kurusu.

Kurusu flinched, his back slightly arched back, startled, but when he collected himself, he reeled in a little closer with his eyebrows drawn to a knit as though he was in deep thought. For a few seconds, his eyes raked her face in observation, and Haruhi believed that he appeared as though he really was inspecting her just to humor Natsuki.

The fedora-wearing boy snorted, shaking his head. "He looks more like a tanuki than a squirrel."

Tomochika's eyes widened at that. "You know what? Haru-chan really does!"

"No, I don't," Haruhi denied.

"Yes, you do," Kurusu and Tomochika simultaneously intoned.

'Whatever,' Haruhi thought.

"Fancy meeting you here, Fujioka," Kurusu said.

"Same to you." Haruhi paused. "By the way, this is Shibuya Tomochika. Tomo-chan, this is Kurusu."

"Hi there!" Tomochika chirped. "I don't know you, but I know _you_, Shinomiya Natsuki!" she cried out, pointing at the said boy.

"Ah, Tomo-chan! Hello," Natsuki returned gleefully, a bright smile on his face.

Kurusu raised an eyebrow. "So, your girlfriend?" he teased, a sly grin worming its way onto his face.

Tomochika and Haruhi exchanged a quick look before rolling their eyes. "No," Haruhi answered flatly. "A friend."

"Uh huh." He didn't believe her. "Anyway, what are you doing here? You do know that there's no school during the weekends, not that I know what it's like from where you're from," he drawled, waving his hand dismissively.

"Trust me when I say that weekend breaks exist from where I'm from," the bespectacled girl said dryly. "Anyway, to answer your question, I'm here to visit different classes so that I may change into a different one."

"What? You're moving out of the S class?" His smirk transformed into a contrite expression, but there remained the hard set of his jaw that reminded her of when she first met the boy. "Look, man, if it's about me roughening you up before…"

"It's not that," she cut in. "You should know how terribly I am when it comes to music or whatever it is that you learn from Hyuuga-sensei. You're in the same class as I am, after all. Though I try to focus, my attention can sometimes be elsewhere when I find no interests or significance to my goal."

"You could try harder."

She shook her head. "It wouldn't work," she insisted.

"Have you tried singing?"

"I rather not risk the chances of breaking any mirrors and windows."

"You can't be that bad, Haru-chan!" Natsuki trilled, smiling.

"No, I'm bad," she stated firmly. 'And what gives him the right to call me so familiarly?'

"You know, despite agreeing that you wouldn't have to do what is already taught in your class, I don't think you actually never became involved in the vocals, huh?" Tomochika interjected with intrigue.

'Uh oh. I have a bad feeling about this.' Haruhi frowned. "So what?"

"So what? Haru-chan! You seriously never tried singing?"

"He never volunteers," Kurusu said. "Even when Hyuuga-sensei picks on him to sing, he would say, 'I'd rather not' or 'Maybe not in this lifetime' while looking so serious that our teacher just gives up."

"Oh, I want to hear you sing, Haru-chan!" Tomochika declared.

"No," Haruhi deadpanned.

"Yes!" With that said, the taller girl looped her arms with Haruhi's before the shorter girl even got a chance to protest. Tomochika dragged her away from the halls that they were _supposed_ to enter and to a new corresponding one. Haruhi was not amused.

"Hey, let me go!" Haruhi tried to struggle, but her roommate was so strong! How was she this strong? What in the world?

"I'm coming too," she heard Kurusu say behind them, his footsteps falling after theirs. "I want to see how awful you make yourself to be."

"Me too! Me too!" Natsuki said, bouncing. Haruhi suspected that he just wanted to come not because of curiosity but to join them.

"I'll make your ears bleed," the bespectacled girl promised.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll see about that."

"Haru-chan, if you turn out to be a great singer, I'll be very angry with you," Tomochika announced cheerfully.


	9. Chapter 9

Haruhi was led into a creamy wallpapered room. In the room was a large system with an arrangement of thousands of switches, buttons, knobs, and flickering lights; the system was set against a glass panel with a door that was built perpendicular to one of the walls—it was like another room within a room. Pushed against the opposite wall were chairs and a couch.

"Welcome to the recording studio," Tomochika announced, waving her arm about in a grandiose manner.

"Are we even allowed to be here?" Haruhi wondered as she stepped inside with Natsuki and Kurusu following after her.

"Sure. Students sometimes come in here if they want to record a song, but they have to schedule on the weekdays," Kurusu explained. "On the weekends, seldom does anyone come in here."

"Hm."

Haruhi walked closer to the system and roved her eyes across the surface. Did any of them even know how to work this thing? The technology seemed a bit complicated, in her opinion. But when she saw Tomochika expertly work her fingers with the switches and the buttons, she decided that she could trust these idol-trainees to do their thing.

"Haru-chan, you need to step inside the recording room," Natsuki said, pointing at the glass room. "And, then, you slip on the headphones that are hanging on the microphone."

"Eh? Okay." Just as told, she pushed open the door and entered. 'The air is colder here,' Haruhi thought as she neared the stool that was set below the hanging microphone that was attached somewhere to the ceiling, perhaps. Tendrils of black wires curled around the stalk of the microphone, and dangling on it was the headphones that Natsuki mentioned about. She slipped it on and heard a faint buzzing sound.

"Haru-chan? Can you hear me?" rang Tomochika's voice from the headphones.

"I can," she said.

"Talk into the microphone, Fujioka; we can't hear you," retorted Kurusu.

Haruhi plopped her bottom onto the stool and spoke into the microphone, "I can hear you."

"Oh, good!" Behind the glass, Tomochika was sitting behind the system, a pleased grin on her face. "I haven't worked this thing in awhile, but it's nice to see that I haven't lost my touch just yet. Now, Haru-chan, what—"

Suddenly, the door swung open, revealing Hojo. With a startled squawk, Tomochika comically leapt out of her seat and tumbled over. Natsuki was quick to help her up as Kurusu looked as though he was trying to calm down his pounding heart just as Haruhi was.

"Dude!" Kurusu exclaimed angrily. "Nearly gave us a heart attack here, you know!"

Hojo didn't even spare a glance at the shorter male as his eyes landed on Haruhi. "Oh, I didn't know this place was reserved," he stated absently. The bespectacled boy closed the door behind him. "I didn't know that Fujioka sang, either."

"I don't," Haruhi said into the metallic piece, "but _they_," she paused to point at the trio, "wanted to hear me regardless."

"Hm, interesting. Very well, I shall listen until you are finished occupying this room." With that said, Hojo sat himself on one of the chairs. Kurusu looked rather displeased by the new addition, but didn't say anything. Haruhi had a vague memory of Jinguuji and Kurusu not particularly getting along with some of the boys in the classroom, and that Hojo along with his two friends didn't really hold the highest opinion of them. Well, Amori and Takamura more so than Hojo, but still…

"Erm, alrighty then." Tomochika coughed into her fist. "Now, with that settled, let's pick a song! So, Haru-chan, whaddya wanna sing?"

'Nothing,' was what Haruhi wanted to say, but, instead, she said, "I've heard that one song that Quartet Night sang enough times on the radio to have memorized the lyrics."

"Quartet Night?" Kurusu and Natsuki parroted curiously.

"Oh, you mean Poison Kiss?" Tomochika burst out gleefully. "I love that song! Okay, in a minute, I'll set the song for you."

The moment the bespectacled girl opened her lips and sang, never will they doubt Fujioka Haruhi ever again whether she can or cannot do something.

Because she seriously can't sing for the life of her.

The first reaction Haruhi received was confusion. Tomochika wondered if there was something wrong with the sound system and checked the cables. When everything was confirmed to be all in order, the next reaction was stunned bewilderment, which split between downright horrification (Tomochika and Kurusu) and amusement (Natsuki and Hojo).

At one-third of the song, Haruhi heard Kurusu cry out, "Okay, enough! Enough! I've heard enough!"

She watched Tomochika dazedly slap around at the system until the song came to a stop. "I think I feel a strange tingling in my eardrums!" her roommate wailed.

Haruhi rolled her eyes and took off the headphones. "A bit histrionic," she muttered as she made her exit out of the glass room.

"You did alright, Haru-chan!" Natsuki lauded, shooting the girl a thumbs-up. Haruhi reluctantly returned the gesture; because she hadn't known the boy long enough, she couldn't tell whether he was being serious or sarcastic. Natsuki didn't really appear to be the kind of guy to play condescending, though.

"Can I tell Kyo and Takamura about this?" Hojo said, smirking at her.

"I rather you not," Haruhi replied blandly. "They might get too curious for their own good and would coerce me into singing for them as well."

"Might be interesting to see their reactions."

"Don't even think about it, Hojo."

"Haru-chan, Haru-chan, I'm sorry to say this, but you _suck_," Tomochika choked out. "You really do. It should be a national law to ban you from ever trying to reach those high A and G notes ever again."

"Or any notes," Kurusu added wearily.

"Or any notes," Tomochika concurred, nodding.

Haruhi was unimpressed.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Tamaki was entertaining the ladies with songs that Ichinose Hayato sang. Surprisingly, the host club prince was really good at singing. Surprisingly more so, the sale of Ichinose Hayato's CDs had a five percent increase because the girls kept making their purchase for Tamaki to sing. Kyoya began to wonder just how long they could keep this up.<p>

* * *

><p>"Later, Hojo."<p>

"Bye, Fujioka."

After saying farewell, Haruhi exited the recording studio and slipped back to Tomochika's side. "So, performance arts?" she reminded.

"Alright, let's get going!" enthused Tomochika. "I wanna see if you're as terrible as an actor as you are as a singer."

"That gotta be interesting," mused Kurusu.

"No, you cannot join,"' Haruhi said flatly. "I don't want to continue being the target of your amusement."

"Why? You let Ren do it all the time."

"No, I don't," she refuted, ignoring the wily expression that bloomed on her roommate's face.

"Why, Haru-chan, I never knew—"

"It's not like that," Haruhi cut in, sighing.

"Oh, what are you guys up to?" Behind them, a boy was walking towards them. His hand was raised in the air in greeting. "Natsuki? Shibuya?"

"Ah, Otoya-kun!" Natsuki exclaimed, a wide smile spread across his face.

"What're you doing here, Ittoki?" Tomochika inquired.

"Just passing by," the newcomer, Ittoki, said, shrugging. "I couldn't help but notice you guys looking like you're having fun and wanted to know what's going on."

"Do you, now?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** According to episode 19 in OHSHC, Haruhi's dad said that Haruhi's music marks had always been horrendous, and I think the Lobelia girls knew that too because Haruhi was lip-synching in that practice room that her dad, Tamaki, and Hikaru were peeking in.


End file.
